Spirituality, Religiosity, and Faith in the Well-Being of People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Scoping Review
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Description: Background & Rationale: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, unpredictable neurological condition affecting over 2.8 million individuals worldwide. Beyond biomedical symptom management and disease-modifying therapies, PwMS frequently experience profound psychological and existential distress. While spirituality, religiosity (Sp/R), and personal faith are widely recognized as vital coping and well-being resources, the existing literature remains fragmented across disparate conceptual models, is constrained by inconsistent measurement tools, and often conflates direct well-being outcomes with adjacent constructs. Objective: This scoping review aims to systematically map how Sp/R and faith have been conceptualized and investigated in relation to well-being (WB) among people with MS (PwMS), summarize reported associations and interventional findings, and highlight key methodological gaps to guide future research and clinical practice. Methods: Conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews and reported following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive, sensitive search strategy was developed across five major electronic databases (PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest Dissertations & Theses) without artificially restricting queries to explicit well-being outcome terms. Eligible sources include peer-reviewed quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method studies, as well as academic theses, focusing on adult PwMS (≥18 years) and examining Sp/R or faith in direct relation to patient well-being (encompassing spiritual, hedonic, eudaimonic well-being, HRQoL, and health-promoting behaviors). Studies exclusively addressing informal family caregivers or lacking MS-specific disaggregation are excluded. Two independent reviewers perform study selection, and charted data are synthesized descriptively and narratively. Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis; Spirituality; Religiosity; Faith; Well-being; Quality of Life; Scoping Review
Author: Vaez-Tehrani
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7225773664
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